WILL THIS TIME BE DIFFERENT?    MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL

I cried. I cursed.

No, not again!

Please, no more “our thoughts and prayers are with you” and “heartfelt condolences” and “trained grief counselors will be available for all those in need.”

Please, do not shift the focus away from gun control by ideas like, “let’s train everybody at the school in how to handle guns; let’s have nearby store personnel ready to stanch the flow of blood from wounded kids.”

Read the data, best brought together in the Max Fisher and Josh Keller article (New York Times),  “What explains U.S. Mass Shootings.” Spoiler alert: it is guns!

Below is what I wrote five years ago, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

“Inevitably, no matter how horrible an event, one hears the phrase, ‘a return to normalcy.’ It is meant to represent a positive lift to one’s spirits, not for those directly affected – because their lives will never be normal – but for all the others, whatever their degree of separation.

It is as if ‘a return to normalcy is a desirable goal for all concerned. IT IS NOT.”

It cannot be accepted as normal to have school killings as a consistent front page story and then move on. It cannot be normal to be “able to buy a gun with less difficulty than getting a driver’s license.”

It cannot be normal to think that the “NRA is the last word on interpretation of the Constitution, with its members historically having more energy than the rest of the political population and thus able to fight off changes which might have saved some innocent kids.

” It cannot be normal to “lead the world in gun ownership and the number of children killed by guns.”

“To be in favor of a return to normalcy is insane!”

Maybe this time will be different.

The walk-out planned for March 14, the activism of students (#NeverAgain, #Enough), the decision by a wealthy Republican funder to close his wallet unless there is meaningful gun control – provide hope. (I will ignore the fact that many states have ceased requiring a permit to carry a hand gun.)

There are numerous rules pertaining to guns (and to the way mental health information is handled) which can be changed without infringing on the Constitution and without hindering, e.g., the ability of hunters to pursue their sport. Americans will not suddenly become more vulnerable to terrorists (in truth, we should be more scared of ourselves!).

Maybe we cannot close the gap to our more civilized neighboring countries, but I cannot countenance the image of more kids going down in a hail of bullets.

This cannot be normal.

This time must be different!